Rodgers urges Celtic to change transfer policy after Champions League woe

Brendan Rodgers has warned Celtic’s owners they must change their approach to the transfer window to avoid a repeat of this week’s disastrous Champions League exit.

Rodgers’ side suffered an embarrassing penalty shoot-out defeat against Kairat Almaty in the Champions League play-offs. 

That shock loss came after Rodgers made it clear the Scottish champions needed to bolster their attack following the exits of Kyogo Furuhashi and Nicolas Kuhn and a long-term injury to Jota.

The only forward to arrive before the play-offs was Shin Yamada, who had scored twice in 21 J-League games this year and stayed on the bench in Kazakhstan on Tuesday.

“We need to find the solutions as to why we weren’t able to strengthen before the games, when clearly we wanted to,” Rodgers told reporters on Friday.

“We need that in-depth look at that because we can’t be in this cycle where we’re growing for a couple of years, we get to Bayern Munich, we show great signs and then we stand still. We can’t do that.

“I said last year I wanted to try and make this club sustainable at the level.

“Club Brugge, it’s seven out of eight times qualifying and the operation continues. They lose players, bring players in. So, we have to get to that level because clearly we’re not at that level – and we have to be honest with that.”

While Rodgers hopes to avoid a repeat of Celtic’s Champions League misery in future, he is focused on bouncing back in Sunday’s Old Firm derby at struggling Rangers.

Rangers have yet to win in the Scottish Premiership this season and suffered a humiliating 9-1 aggregate defeat against Club Brugge in the Champions League play-off round.

Celtic have won the Scottish title for 13 of the last 14 seasons. Beating Rangers this weekend would be a first step towards extending that remarkable run.

Rodgers knows change off the pitch is likely to be slower when it comes to Celtic’s summer recruitment strategy.

“It’s a trend, we need to understand that. We certainly need to understand that from a football context, because you want to be as well equipped as you possibly can,” he said.

“It’s not about investment, the club will invest. It’s all about timely investment.”

When asked why the culture was so hard to change, Rodgers said: “I don’t know. There’s so many reasons as to why transfers don’t get done and don’t get done in time.

“What I do know is, we have to be better at it. I’d be very hopeful. We’ve got a major owner in Dermot (Desmond) who’s a super intelligent guy. 

“We’ve got a board of directors who bleed for the club. So everyone here is connected. All this talk about total disconnection? It’s not what I see and I hear, it couldn’t be further from the truth.”